Growing Stronger
by LuminousWriter11
Summary: Eren sparks his own desire to let Annie know about his feeling towards her.
1. Chapter 1

**Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! If you are reading from a different country then, good day to you…er yeah lol. Here is a little ErenxAnnie (first time writing this). The story is not thanksgiving related lol.**

**Note: I don't own Attack on Titan, or its' characters -_-**

**Setting: AU**

At this point, Eren didn't care what they were going to eat. The guys, Eren, Armin, Jean, Marco, Connie, Reiner, and Bertholdt, decided to go out since it was rare for all of them to be free at the same time. After a few hours of causing a little chaos, the gang finally succumbed to their growling stomachs.

"I seriously don't care, just pick some place," said Eren.

"Hmm how about pizza?" said Armin.

"I had pizza yesterday, why don't we try that taco place," said Connie.

"Nope, I don't like tacos," said a disgruntled Jean.

"What is wrong with you?" said Reiner with a serious face, making Bertholdt smile and Armin laughing.

Jean ignored their comments as Marco chimed in, "It's okay Jean, I don't fancy tacos either…why don't we just eat here?"

Collectively, they saw a small burger joint with a neon sign. Eren wasn't waiting for the others so he quickly went inside to finally satisfy his hunger. Opening the doors, he whiffed the smell of smoked meat sizzling on the grill. He closed his eyes and heard the sound of sparks as if they were kissing the ground beef; it was intoxicating.

"What the hell are you doing Jaeger?"

Eren quickly opened his eyes and noticed he was standing in front of the cashier's counter. He also noticed a familiar face looking back at him with a cold glare. "Oh sorry! Wait, Annie? I didn't know you worked here."

"Yes I do, now are you going to order something or not?"

Eren brought his gaze up at the menu momentarily, "Um, I'll just have a regular hamburger, heh." As Annie received his order, Eren couldn't help looking at her, after all this was the girl he had admired for a long time.

"Five dollars," said Annie as Eren gave her the money, only to have a slight reaction as he accidently touched her palm. He was going to say something until the others came in.

"Jaeger, where are you?" said Jean as he continued, "we were thinking about leaving you behind here, but we decided to just eat here."

Eren turned his attention towards the guys, "Jeez is that why you guys were still outside? I already forgot you guys were even here."

As each of them stood behind Eren, they all noticed Annie who was already not looking forward to seeing all of them.

"Yo, Annie, how you've been?" said Reiner.

"Fine," that was all anyone was going to get, after all they all knew what kind of person Annie was. Still, the others let Annie know that it was nice to see her again, as each of them ordered something on the menu and then preceded to find a place to sit. Eren, on the other hand, stayed since he wanted to talk to his former sparring partner who was counting the bills. "So, you still teaching martial arts?"

"Yeah," Annie finished her counting and looked up at his eyes, "you've stopped coming, why?"

Eren was a little taken back as he wasn't expecting a response like that from her. "Oh, uh…I was busy with other things," Eren averted his eyes away from hers, as he quickly thought of something else to say, "So, if you're still teaching, why are you working here?"

"This is my dad's place, I'm just helping out since he just fired a couple of his employees." Annie looked to her side, "Your burger is ready, here."

Eren took the plate from her hands as he motioned slowly away towards his friends.

"Is that all you got Eren? I thought you were really hungry?" said Armin.

"Yeah you were seriously whining this whole time, what gives?" said Jean.

"Shut up Jean-boy, and I'm fine with this Armin."

Everyone laughed at Eren's remark at 'Jean-boy'; it was a while since he used that nickname that Jean's mother gave him. It was a memory that was not very enjoyable to Jean, as he looked at Eren irritably.

After everyone had finished eating, they said their farewells to Annie and prepared to continue their night together.

"It was nice seeing Annie again, and she is still rocking a hot body huh, Eren," the blonde nudged at Eren. It was rumor amongst them that Eren liked Annie ever since he signed up for the martial arts course.

"Come on Reiner, don't say that," said Bertholdt.

"What, you don't think she has hot body?" Reiner turned towards his friend.

"I'm not saying that at all," said a blushing Bertholdt as he decided to close his mouth for the rest of the evening. Everyone continued walking as they thought about their next destination, but Eren already had his mind focused solely on the blonde girl.

**Few hours later…**

"Alright guys, I think its time to go home, I'll see ya later," said Connie.

"Yeah it was fun, let's do this again sometime," said Marco.

"Definitely," said Reiner.

The other waved towards each other as Armin walked towards Eren, "You ready? Mikasa is probably waiting for us." Armin noticed his friend looking at the opposite direction, "You alright Eren?"

"Armin, I'll see you back home, I have to do something." Eren started running towards the direction he was facing, he was starting to feel hungry again.

Annie had begun closing the doors to the burger joint, and soon heard the sound of fast footsteps approaching her from behind. Her quick reaction got her in a stance as she kicked the stranger across the face with precision timing. She possessed a killer intent, but it quickly vanished when she saw who it was, "Jaeger? Idiot, don't sneak up on a girl from behind."

"Oww…Annie, I wasn't trying to, ouch," Eren picked himself up, "are you locking up?"

"Yeah, sorry no more food, we're closed," Annie started walking past Eren as he followed her. Eren tried to match his pace with hers and was beginning to feel reluctant in what he was going to say. But he decided to go for it since he came all the way here.

"Listen Annie, I didn't really tell you the truth when I said I was busy," Eren had his eyes glued to the ground, so he didn't notice that Annie had slowed her pace. "Honestly, I was tired of getting beaten around by you, so I wanted to get more stronger on my own first."

Annie stopped as she turned towards him, "So you felt inferior that a women was beating you up?" She was beginning to loathe him until she heard his next remark.

"No, not just stronger physically, stronger emotionally, because…" Eren tore his eyes from the ground, "I-I was beginning to like you, a lot." Annie grew wide eyes as Eren continued, "So it was hard for me to face you every time, that's why I stopped coming and I wanted to know if you would like to go out with me sometime?"

Eren looked away slightly as a red tint grew on his cheeks; he didn't notice the red tint growing on her cheeks as well. Annie collected herself at the sudden confession as she looked up at Eren with a smile, "No."

"Eh…" Eren was almost speechless, "did you say, no?"

"Yes, I said no," Annie looked away as she began walking.

Eren momentarily stood still until he rushed to her side; but before he could say anything, Annie continued her response, "You need to get stronger first, right? I don't take emotion into account, you still need to beat me physically." Annie smirked feeling the nerve-wrecking boy at her side knowing that what he said wasn't easy. "Maybe I'll change my mind, if you can at least do that."

With that, Eren felt like he lost, but still managed to say one last thing, "I-I'll walk you home."

Arriving at Annie's house, Eren had some time to think and gave her the correct response, "Alright Annie, I should have known this is the kind of girl you are," Eren smirked as he watched Annie opening the door to house, not going in yet as she was very curious what the boy had to say. "I will go back to class tomorrow, and when I beat you…you will be mine." The last part was improvisation on Eren's part, as he was trying to think of something to say that won't make him sound like a fool.

"Hmph, we'll see about that, Jeager," Annie went inside and closed the door behind her.

Eren grabbed his suddenly heavy head with his right hand, "What the hell, Eren."

Inside, Annie was greeted by her father who had noticed the boy outside walking glumly, "Annie, who is the boy?"

"Nothing father, just a dork," said Annie walking up to her room with a bright smile on her face.

**I was only planning on making this a one-shot, but I think another chapter sounds good, what you guys think? Ha. Enjoy the holiday guys, and stay safe :P**


	2. Chapter 2

**It's been a while, but finally finished my finals! For your patience here is a sequel, enjoy!**

It was late afternoon when Eren arrived at Annie's martial arts class; it was located in a nearby gym from his house. After what he calls his "declaration of love," a lot of pressure was on him to back up his claim. After all, it was one thing to speak your mind and another to act on it. As he entered the gymnasium, he felt the rush of cool air and the beat of music that matched the rhythm of his heartbeat. He had been here many times before but it always felt new, and now it was time for him to get pumped up for what was to come.

The room of her class was the same as before, and he noticed through the small slit of glass Annie, who was warming up with the others. His nerves began to spike up as he took a deep breath, and just as he was about to enter, a pair of gorilla-sized hands palmed his right shoulder.

"Hey Eren," said Reiner, "you came back! For a second I thought you had given up."

Eren turned around to see his grinning friend, "Given up? No way, just needed to get my head on straight."

"Well glad to see you're here, let's go in, class is gonna start," Reiner pushed Eren through the door.

As the two boys entered the room, Reiner waved and greeted to a few of the students. Eren looked around and noticed his usual spot wasn't taken, so he took his belongings and placed them there. Annie, who was sitting down as she grabbed the front of her toes, looked at Eren intently. It would be a lie if she said she wasn't curious to see how Eren would respond to last night's "declaration." Annie lightly smirked and picked herself up to start today's session.

**A few hours later…**

Eren was trying his best to formulate a strategy to steal himself from his current predicament. Though it's difficult to think of a plan when your arm is being forcibly extended from its normal joint position. This was normally called an "arm bar," as Reiner is pointing out to the other students. Indeed, Annie is very good at various fighting techniques, including extensions, hence why she teaches mixed martial arts. Since Eren had missed a few of the recent classes, he was getting a crash course on submissions in order for him to catch up with the others.

"So, you understand that you want to avoid being in this position," said Annie making it look effortlessly.

Eren grunted, "Yeah, I get it!" Reiner yelled at Eren the technique to escape, but it was too late; Annie had already prevented any kind of escape from happening. Looking at the bright side, Eren had to agree that being grabbed by Annie like this wasn't so bad. In a split second that thought was erased, as Annie mercilessly gave one last tug, making a sharp pain race towards the rest of Eren's body.

The class had ended shortly after that; everyone said their farewells for tonight. Reiner also waved goodbye Eren, who smiled back but was then followed with a sigh. Annie still stayed behind to clean up, so Eren thought he would just head home for tonight. After all, he really didn't want to show Annie that he was still in pain from her submission.

Back home, Eren walked sluggishly in towards his room when his stepsister stopped him. "Eren…I knew going back to that class would get you hurt again."

"Mikasa, I knew it was going to be like this, but I want to do it."

"I told you if you want to get stronger, I'll teach you…I know how to fight too."

"And I told you, knowing how to fight and teaching it are different," said Eren as he motioned back to his room.

Mikasa wasn't content, "Not really, I know I can do a better job than her…and isn't that the real reason you signed up for that class, to be near her?"

Eren had stopped momentarily, hesitant at his next choice of words, "Sorry did you say something, I really got to take a shower now so excuse me!" Eren suddenly found a new burst of energy as he quickly went up to the bathroom, leaving an irritated Mikasa behind, "Eren."

The next day, Annie found herself in a predicament. She was trying her best to concentrate on the customer in front of her, but it was difficult when a pair of piercing eyes were stabbing the side of her face. Finally, she spoke up when the person with said eyes came in front of the counter, "Can I help you, Mikasa?"

"It's been a while Annie, I hear you're still teaching that MMA class."

Annie quizzically looked at her, "Yes I am, why does it matter to you?"

"I'm going to make this short, if I see Eren return with anything broken, I will break you," Mikasa stared at her darkly, as well as Annie to her.

"Oh really?" Neither of them acknowledged the fact that there were other people around them. The dark aura that resonated from them, had people grabbing hold to the nearest thing they could find.

Meanwhile, Eren and Armin were having lunch as Armin was trying his best to help his friend. "Mm why don't you try asking Levi for help."

"What?!" Eren said trying to piece together why he would suggest such a thing.

Armin brought his arms up in innocence, "I mean, he knows how to fight and he even taught some classes too before."

"I don't know, I highly doubt he'll want to help me."

"Well, you don't have any other options…since you don't want to ask Mikasa," Armin looked at his best friend intently waiting for Eren's reason.

"Mikasa is a great fighter, but…she is just really not good at teaching," said Eren looking away.

"I suppose so," said Armin.

"Remember that time the three of us were studying for that one test? I got more confused than I already was," said Eren

"Yeah, and I thought you getting more confused was an impossible task, but Mikasa proved me wrong," Armin said laughing.

"Shut up Armin…I guess I'll talk to Levi."

**A few days later…**

Eren grabbed his usual gear and then bent down to tie his shoes.

"Eren," said Mikasa, "I'm going to class too, let's go." 

Before Eren could even formulate what was happening, Mikasa was out the door.

"Wait! Mikasa!" said Eren as he rushed to follow her.

At the gym, Mikasa and Eren were greeted by Reiner, "Yo Eren, you brought Mikasa with you I see."

"Yeah, well, I guess she was interested," said Eren as he went to his usual spot with Mikasa following. Setting his gear down, he looked back at Mikasa, "I think this class will bore you Mikasa."

"Don't worry I'm not interested in the class, I need to see if Annie is good at teaching."

Eren sighed, "I figured it was something like that, just don't make a scene."

"That's up to her."

**Later on…**

"Okay, Reiner and…" Annie looked around, "Eren…you two spar, let's see if you've learned anything." Even though Eren wasn't going up against Annie this time, by no means would this be any easier. Reiner is just as tough as her, and it would be more difficult to pull any kind of submission on him. But Eren was ready, and he felt like this was the perfect time to show Annie his worth.

"You ready Eren?" said Reiner.

"Yeah." A few seconds later, Eren had made the first move. A quick jab with his left hand forced Reiner to duck, but the jab was a fake. Eren quickly brought his right fist forward making contact with Reiner's jaw. Immediately, Eren went for Reiner's leg tumbling the both of them to the ground. It all happened so fast that the other students couldn't believe it; Eren had brought Reiner down.

Reiner smiled, "Heh, wasn't expecting that at all."

"Yeah," Eren grunted sitting up from his position, as he was about to strike Reiner's face, "surprise attack, you know?"

Eren performed ground pounds as Reiner blocked his attacks with his forearms; bruises were beginning to form. Noticing that Eren didn't have his legs locked, Reiner pushed Eren off and quickly got back up on his feet. Reiner didn't hesitate to take a jab at Eren; this one wasn't a fake. Eren couldn't block in time as the impact on his chest brought him down. Reiner's force was like a bomb that had exploded right in front of him; Eren lost control of his breathing temporarily. Mikasa looked on with a haunted face, while Annie kept her gaze waiting for Eren to make a counter attack. Not giving him a chance to get back up, Reiner went for the arm bar. Eren noticed this and quickly prevented Reiner from locking his arms with a figure-four. However, with Reiner's strength pulling on his arm, Eren was starting to lose his grip of his fingers.

"What did I tell you Eren, you wanted to avoid being in that situation," said Annie with arms crossed. Eren had a good start and his reactions have improved, but he was still nowhere near strong enough to where he wanted to be.

"Come on Eren," said Mikasa who felt helpless.

"You give up?" said Reiner as he was just about to pull his arm completely out from his grip.

"Hell…no." Eren knew the technique to escape, but his strength wasn't giving him the chance to do it. If he was ever going to prove to Annie that he was growing stronger, now was the time to start it. Before he would succumb to defeat, Eren decided to do what Levi had told him. He took a deep breath and then…

**OOOOO what's going to happen now, lol. Thanks for reading, leave a review if you want and tell me what you think. Check my profile for updates on stories and schedule later. Now that I got break from school, I can start writing again! :D**


	3. Chapter 3

**Another chapter for you guys, enjoy! :D**

Reiner feels a sudden aura of anger and power, as he momentarily notices that Eren has his eyes closed. He is beginning to struggle more, as he could no longer pull Eren's arm down for Eren was the now the one in control. Annie and Mikasa notice the sudden shift in control, while the other students begin to see the change as they hear Reiner's grunting getting louder. Eren is continuing to pull his arm towards himself, his elbow joints withstanding the intense pressure from Reiner's efforts. Then Eren stills his arm; Reiner, for a second, believes that Eren has run out of energy. However, this is incorrect as Eren releases his grip from his fingertips and grabs Reiner's locked arm. Instantaneously, Eren forces Reiner's arm out of the arm bar and escapes. Annie's eyes widen as she sees that Eren has done something unexpected.

Eren opens his eyes and takes this bit to realize that he escaped from an extension like that, especially from someone as strong as Reiner. But before he could say anything, or see Annie's reaction, he felt the heavy contact of Reiner elbowing him in the stomach. He had briefly forgot that Reiner still had his legs locked over his chest, something that really shouldn't have been forgotten. Reiner scored another arm bar, and this time Eren had no energy to continue.

"Okay, that's enough," said Annie. Reiner released Eren; the class began mumbling amongst themselves about the match. "Did Eren escape the first arm bar, or was I just seeing things." "No I saw that too."

Mikasa quickly walked up to Eren, as he waves her off signaling that he is fine to Mikasa's content. Reiner, on the other hand, was still astonished at what happened there, but still gave him a slight pat on the back for the good fight. Annie, on the other hand, gave her input, "Your quick movements in the beginning were good, but you fail to focus on your opponent's weaknesses."

Eren was a little taken back at Annie's critic as she continued, "For someone like Reiner, going on the ground early is something you want to avoid entirely." The other students paid attention to what she was saying, "you're only doing him a favor by doing that; you have to keep taking hits on his body and lower his stamina, only then will you have a chance at grappling."

Even though it had seemed like Annie was finished, she still had one more thing to say, "Eren, showing your strength that quick will only make you look weaker later on."

Eren cursed himself; he completely had it wrong. With his declaration to Annie and trying ever so vigorously to get stronger, he failed to focus on his opponent. His mind was just too clouded, but knows for sure that Annie is right. After all, in that moment with the arm bar, he noticed that concentrating for just a moment was a whole lot better than struggling for several seconds. This is one of the reasons why he admired Annie; even if they were harsh words, they were helpful, true, and it always gave him the inspiration to try harder. Unfortunately, someone didn't consider what Annie said to be helpful.

"Annie, why don't you spar with me for a bit," said Mikasa.

The whole class stopped what they were doing, because no one in their right mind would actually ask Annie to spar with him or herself.

"Mikasa…" said Eren. Before he could continue he was stopped by Reiner, "I don't think you want to get in the middle of that, Eren."

"Are you sure Mikasa? Class is about to end," said Annie.

"Positive, unless you don't want too," said Mikasa who was already putting on her gloves.

Annie did the same, "Not at all," she turned towards Reiner, "Reiner you time us, this'll be this quick."

"Yes, it will," said Mikasa as both warriors glared at each other.

The match between them lasted longer than class time, as the time had been up for a while now. But neither them nor the other students left, everyone wanted to know who would win. Midway through the fight, more advanced techniques were performed that were not taught in class. In fact, it no longer became a lesson, but a full on MMA match. Once the bruises were becoming visible, and the stains of blood were cascading down their bodies; Reiner and Eren decided that that was enough, as it didn't seem like either of them would finish anytime soon.

"Come on Annie, there is another class coming in soon," said Reiner tugging the blonde by her arm.

"That's enough Mikasa, Annie," said Eren. Though he didn't want it to end, because he was amazed to see that even though Annie was smaller than Mikasa, she was still holding her own. The two warriors weren't planning to end it, but both of them released as soon as they heard Eren's voice.

Everyone else in the class gathered their things and said their farewells; some even discussed about the fight, "That was awesome!" "Yeah, it was like I was watching a real match!" "I really want to learn some of those techniques!"

As everyone went his or her separate ways, Eren decided to wait for Annie.

"Hey Mikasa, I'll see you back home," said Eren as Mikasa turned around already knowing what Eren is going to do.

"You're going to talk to Annie, aren't you?"

"Yeah," said Eren holding the back of his head with a smile.

Mikasa sighed, "Fine, I'll get some food on the way back, don't take too long." It was incredible to see that even after that match, Mikasa didn't seem like she was in pain; he figured there was no way Mikasa was human. _And speaking of not being human, _Eren thought as he looked back to see Annie, "Hey, Annie."

"Oh you're still here." Annie began walking not waiting for the boy.

"I wanted to speak to you for a bit," said Eren who followed her.

"Is it another confession?" Annie smirked knowing Eren's reaction without having to look at his face.

"No, I was just wondering if you hated Mikasa."

Annie's ears perked up at the sudden remark, "I don't really hate her, I think it's more like we don't fit together." Her voice trailed off and soon heard the sounds of relief from Eren. "Oh, I see, that's good…well not 'good' but better than I thought it was."

Annie was confused, "What do you mean?"

"Well, Mikasa is one of my best friends and, even though she was adopted, family that I cherish very much," Eren was starting to blush out of embarrassment, "so I'm happy that the person I like, doesn't hate Mikasa."

Annie cursed for looking at Eren when he said that because now she was starting to get embarrassed, "So, it was another confession after all."

"Hm? Oh yeah, I guess it was," Eren smiled.

The both of them continued to walk in the dark night as Eren figured that he would walk Annie home since he came this far already. Though he knew that Annie would be fine by herself, he would soon realize that no matter how strong you are, against numbers you can lose.

"Hold it right there you two," said a shady figure that approached Eren and Annie in front of them. The sounds of distant footsteps grew louder as both of them realized they were surrounded. Annie clenched her bag and was already beginning to mentally count how many of them there were, one…two…three…four. Eren heard those around him, but still fixated on the man in front noticing the sharp object in his hand; indicating that he was the leader.

"We were only expecting the girl, but looks like you decided to come at the wrong time," the man's face was clear and confident as if he didn't care if they saw how he looked like or who he was. Likewise, Eren's furrowed brow and Annie's stoic demeanor gave an indication to the man that these two would not go down quietly. "But it's your lucky day, I'll let you go for a small price, so that we can have 'fun' with the one we really want."

"To hell with you! I'm not going anywhere, all you guys are cowards for ganging up on us and even more so for planning on going after her!" said Eren.

The other men laughed believing that Eren was nothing more than a brat who was trying to be a hero. Eren didn't care as he continued; "I got bad news for you, because this girl is not someone you want to mess with."

The man took a quick glance at Annie and saw a killer intent, but quickly disregarded it as he signaled his men "Hold these brats down."

From behind, one of the men charged straight at Annie. She quickly took a step back and kicked him in the face, causing him to go unconscious; not waiting for the others, Eren charged at two of them. The fourth attacked Annie, but once again, she had no problem with him. She looked over to see that Eren was struggling a bit, but still managed to hold them both off. He pushed one away to make room for a ferocious punch on the other. She was about to go help, until the man with the knife came behind, quickly grabbing her arms and holding the blade to her neck.

"Alright that's it!" shouted the man. Eren looked behind and saw the knife. "You had your fun, now don't move or you'll see nothing but red from her neck! Hold him down, boys."

Eren tried to resist as two of the men proceeded in pinning him down. As this was going on, the man with the knife quickly figured out why Annie wasn't someone to mess with. In a blink rate speed, Annie bit the man in the arm, motioned her head away from the knife, and rotated her upper torso to end up behind the assailant.

"Ouch! You bitc—" Annie forced the man to his knees and quickly turned to see if Eren was all right. What she saw was Eren huffing after he successfully took down the two men.

"Glad to see you're all right," said Annie smiling.

Eren breathed heavily, "Yeah… same to yo—" Eren's vision faded away as a hit to the back of his head knocked him out. The man that Eren had punched got him back, and just when Annie was going to get him, the guy that she had kicked earlier began to choke her. All the men got on their feet, as their leader laughed, "Nice try, but it looks like we'll be having our way after all. After we have fun with you, I think I'll gut open that kid and show people what happens when you mess with me."

Annie, who was still being held by the neck, spat at the man, "Go to hell."

After temporarily seeing black, Eren's eyes began to open as a distant voice came to his mind, "_If you want to get stronger, take a deep breath and…"_

"Let…her…go," said Eren as he stood up, positioning to strike once more.

"This kid doesn't quit, I'll deal with this, give me the knife back….you should have stayed down, now I'm going to hav—" the man immediately grabbed his stomach as saliva escaped his mouth. It was at this moment that Annie saw something in Eren's eyes; it was anger, but at the same time it was determination.

"Who's next?"

A few minutes later, Eren had finished off the last guy; some were unconscious, others were holding their injured limbs. Annie stood in shock, but quickly gathered herself and walked up to Eren, "How did you do that…I mean, are you okay?"

Eren regained his composure as he turned around to the blonde, "Yeah, I'm fine and…I just learned that from someone."

Eren grabbed his and her belongings and motioned towards Annie, "Come on, I'll take you home now."

Annie lightly grabbed her bag and as Eren started to walk away from her, she blushed a deep shade of red.

Arriving at Annie's home, Eren quickly said goodbye as he realized that Mikasa is going to kill him for taking too long. He was also going to have to figure out how to explain his condition to her.

It was good thing he left fast too, because Annie had trouble figuring out what to say to him.

"Annie? What took you so long," said the deep voiced father who began to notice her daughter's face, "and why is your face so red?"

At first, Annie thought it might have been blood that she forgot to clean off, but realized it was the heat underneath her skin. After pondering a moment, she told her father, "I think I like him, dad."

**Yes developments lol. Thanks for reading, tell me what you think, and check profile for updates! See ya guys later!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Last chapter guys, Enjoy :D!**

* * *

><p>"So you are teaching martial arts again?" said Hanji as she walked next to Levi; both of them were heading to the gym to work out.<p>

"Weren't you listening? That brat kept pestering me to teach him. He said he wanted to beat someone very strong."

"Hm, so what did you teach him?

_**Flashback…**_

"If you want to get stronger, take a deep breath, stay calm, and think about your opponents weaknesses," said Levi.

"I-Is that it?" said Eren as he found it hard to believe that that's all it took.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it's just a little anticlimactic."

"Were you expecting to learn a super punch? This isn't a cartoon idiot; just don't lose your focus when fighting. Otherwise, you'll get tired quick and you'll you're your opponents' life a whole lot easier."

"I see…" Eren looked a little disappointed as he began to motion off, "t-thank you, Levi, I'll try to do that."

Levi noticed this and felt sympathy for the brown haired boy as he stopped him, "I guess another thing would be to lift some weights. When you have more strength than you opponent, you won't have to struggle as much."

Eren looked back at him with joy, "Do you think you can help me with that?"

Levi immediately regretted stopping the boy as he reluctantly said, "Sure."

_**Present…**_

"Oh, so that's why you've been busy for a while. You were helping you're student gain some muscle," teased Hanji as she started to poke on Levi's face.

"Hanji…"

She stopped her poking as she realized that they have arrived at the gym, "Well hopefully it pays off."

Upon entering the gym, Hanji notices the martial arts class taught by Annie was in session, "Hey, isn't that Eren?"

Levi looked to his side and noticed that his student was sparring against another, much bigger opponent. "I guess that's what he meant by wanting to get stronger, I thought he just wanted to pick a fight with someone," said Levi as he walked away leaving Hanji behind.

"Hey, wait, don't you want to check up on him?" she said catching up to Levi.

"No, it looks he's got everything under control."

Inside the martial arts class, Eren had successfully pinned Reiner as the rest of students looked in awe.

"You've definitely gotten better, Eren," said Reiner as held his arm when Eren released him.

"Thanks."

Looking on from the side, Annie found it difficult to steal her eyes away from Eren's direction. She couldn't help how attractive Eren looked; she knew he was pretty good looking from the start, but now she couldn't look away. What bothered her the most, though, was that she still needed to repay him for that night. Regardless, she still had a class teach, "Alright, well tomorrow is our last class, so I'll give you all my evaluations for each of you and see how you've improved."

In the lockers, Annie felt like now was the best time to repay Eren. Seeing as there was another class waiting to use the room, she didn't need to lock up, so she quickly went outside to wait for Eren.

"Annie? I thought you would have left already," said Eren.

"I didn't need to lock up today. More importantly, do you need to be somewhere soon?"

"Not really, I was just going to go back home. Is there something you need?" Eren started to notice that she was beginning to fumble with her words.

"I-I was going to get some errands…you want to come along?"

"Uh…sure, I mean yes. I'll go with you," Eren was unsure why Annie asked him to accompany her. As she nodded, they both started walking towards the nearest store. Midway, Eren started to think more about this situation, _"Wait a minute, isn't this a date? No, it can't be. After all, she said she would never go out with me unless I beat her. I shouldn't get my hopes up, but still, I really wish this was a date."_

As Eren assisted Annie to collect her errands, she found it difficult to maintain a straight conversation. But towards the end of their little errand run, she finally found the courage to do what she wanted to say in the first place. "Eren, wait up a sec," she waited as Eren turned around to meet her eyes.

"What is it, Annie?"

As expected, it wasn't going to be easy for her to say these words, because she never in her life felt the need to sound sincere. "T-Thank you, for saving me…that night."

Eren was a little shocked at her words, not expecting to her that, especially since that night happened a few weeks ago. Still, he saw that she was a little embarrassed by saying those words and truth be told, it was the first time he ever heard her show any kind of gratitude. _"Wow, she looks really cute right now," _he said to himself.

"And also," Annie moved her eyes away from him as she said, "I will accept your 'declaration' from before, I'll go out with you…so, you don't have to beat me anymore."

Eren was astonished as he stood looking at Annie smiling at him. For a moment, he thought he was dreaming, because just like that, Annie was going to be his girlfriend; it was what he wanted in the beginning. However, something was wrong, he though to himself. After all the hard work into getting stronger and the preparation to challenge her, it was all going to be for naught and it bothered him. Call it pride or just stupidity; he didn't want it to be easy, because usually for a girl like Annie, you have to climb mountains before you can get her to like you.

"I'm kind of happy you said that," he said.

"Kind of?" She mimicked his tone.

"I'm sorry, but I can't go out with you just yet. At first, I only wanted to get stronger so that I can beat you and so that you would go out with me, but lately, I've wanted to get stronger for me. I wanted to be able to prove to myself that I ca do this."

She gazed at him intently as he finished by saying, "So, get ready tomorrow, because I'm coming for you.

After they had parted ways, Annie was left a little empty inside. It wasn't easy to say what she said, but she understood why Eren felt that way. In fact, she should have already figured that that was how it was going to be. Because for a guy like Eren, you have to use every ounce of your energy just to make him see you for a few seconds.

When Eren arrived to his house, he placed his pack down and called on Mikasa.

"Eren, what is it?"

"Mikasa, this is going to be the first and only time I say this…will you spar with me?"

Mikasa looked a little overjoyed as she questioned Eren, "Right now?"

"Yes."

_**The next day…**_

Reiner stood in the middle as he said, "Okay, there is no time limit. First person to submit or knock out the other, wins. Ready, fight!"

Eren charged straight at Annie, dodging her lateral kick. As he grabbed her midsection to pull her down, she used her elbow to hit his back, causing severe pain. Eren released her as he attempted a punch to the stomach, but this was also futile as she grabbed his arm and swung him overhead all the way to the ground. On the floor she attempted a submission, causing an arm triangle choke. Eren's back was facing her, as he attempted to release her vice grip on his neck.

Flexibility was one thing, but the strength that she had was unbelievable. "Are you ready to give up?" She said.

Eren voice staggered a bit, as he responded, "No, I'm going to beat you." All of a sudden, Annie was starting to lose her grip and her force was proving to be useless, as Eren grabbed her arms and swung her atop of him, facing down on him. Eren smirked, "After today, I wouldn't mind having you on top, but right now I'm going to finish this."

Annie didn't have time to blush at his comments; he slithered off of her, coiled one of his legs around her torso and rapidly flattened her on her side, causing a small cry of pain from her. Then, he followed up by grabbing one of her legs to perform a leg lock, this time a more emphatic cry being heard from her mouth. But rather than submit to him that easily, she bombarded him with a series of elbow jabs causing bruises along his body. Her flexibility gave her the opening to take jabs at his head; blood was starting to travel down the ends of his hair. But no matter how much pain Eren felt, he never let go and continued his submission until Annie could no longer take the agony from her leg. She finally relented and submitted to Eren, giving him the victory.

As Reiner brings Eren's arm up to signify victory, the other students cheered as they marveled at the spectacle before them.

Eren smiled as he offered Annie his hand, "Here, you alright?"

"My leg's a little sore, but I feel good…you beat me, Eren," she said returning his smile.

_**One week later…**_

"Hurry up Eren, you shouldn't keep a girl waiting," Annie said waiting for said boy in front of a fountain.

"A girl? I thought I was going out with a martial artist," Eren said as his sound of laughter transformed into a sound of pain with the help of Annie's elbow.

"Looks like I need to teach you again how to treat girls," she teased.

"Oh? I don't mind taking another class then, teacher," Eren grabbed Annie by her waist and pulled her in.

Annie was suspecting a kiss from him, but he spoke up once more, "You know I've forget to tell you this, but…you didn't lose on purpose, did you?"

Annie motioned her eyes away from his, nothing but silence from her.

"Annie?" he let her go as she began to walk away from him.

Eren started to feel uneasy, "Hey, Annie, please tell me you didn't lose on purpose."

As Eren grabbed her shoulder, she turned around and lunged straight at his lips, silencing the boy. After a few seconds, she freed his lips from hers to say, "I was kidding…you beat me, Eren." The fountain behind them glistened in the background as the two fighters kissed once again.

* * *

><p><strong>I noticed that there were things I messed up on in this series and I apologize for that, if you noticed them. If not, then I hope you enjoyed it regardless <strong>**. I got some great advice just before I finished writing this, so hopefully my stories in the future would be much better. Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed this chapter series and Check my profile for updates, see ya guys later!**


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